Nine injured in wildfires in Russia's Volgograd region still in hospital

A total of nine people injured in wildfires in Russia's Volgograd Region remain hospitalized, with another 19 receiving ambulatory treatment, a local emergency ministry department said in a statement on Saturday.

Wildfires raging in Russia's Volgograd Region killed at least six people, with over 900 evacuated.

Over 500 buildings were destroyed by flames.

"531 buildings have burnt down, including 419 residential houses," the statement said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allocated on Friday 1 billion rubles ($33 million) to the wildfire-stricken Volgograd and Saratov regions, a cabinet statement said.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered that measures be stepped up in order to contain the new outbreak of fires, the Kremlin said.

Medvedev also ordered Russian Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin to "organize the speedy rebuilding of houses and the payment of compensation to those affected."

Experts fear that strong winds could cause the new fires to spread to other regions, namely the Astrakhan Region and the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Kalmykia, an emergencies spokesperson said earlier.

The fires that ravaged the European part of Russia in August killed over 50 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

The government's response to the disaster was widely criticized and the damage wreaked by the new blazes, coming just days after Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the fires beaten, could provoke further criticism.

The Russian Investigative Committee said on Friday it sees signs of negligence in the actions of officials in the Volgograd region during efforts to put the fires out.